I saw a story today about the continuing poverty of the child stars of Slumdog Millionaires http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30468825/. According to MSNBC, “two months ago, Rubina Ali the child star of the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire” was worrying about what to wear to the Oscars. Now she has come home to a very different problem: How to get the fetid water out of her family’s one-room shack. Rubina and co-star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail have been showered with gifts and brief bursts of fame, but their day-to-day lives are little changed.”
The story goes on to say that the children and their families have refused offers to “improve” their life style, move to a “better” place, etc. The writer appears mystified as to why anyone would live in such horrid conditions when they could live somewhere else.
This article is a good example of an assumption which is a foundation of our Western consumer culture. We assume that everyone must want to live in a nicer place, a place with at least the minimum creature comforts that we believe are necessary to a decent life. This assumption also labels people as “ignorant” or “irresponsible” who don’t live up to our standards. In this article (and others in the media), it is even implied that the parents are deliberately neglecting their child’s well being.
What is missed by these writers is the love and connection that these children and their families feel for their friends and neighbors. This love and connection is so strong that Rubina wants to stay with her community and they feel likewise. They look upon her as an example of what is possible for themselves, like a hero among her people. She gives them hope and inspires them. Why would she want to leave? Why would anyone want her to?
Because we of great arrogance in the West believe that our way is better and that these people in Mumbai are too ignorant to know what is good for them. Maybe we don’t want to live where Rubina does, but don’t condemn her for wanting to, even if we can’t understand why. She understands, her family and friends understand and that is enough. Love and connection is what really matters to people; we could be inspired by its power rather than condemning what we don’t understand.